PRIZES UPDATED 03.27.10
PRIZES UPDATED 03.29.10
PRIZES UPDATED 04.04.10
Hi guys. So, this is the first competition that I'll be running here. Hopefully it gets some attention and anyone that's interested in putting their level design skills to the challenge will come forward and give it a shot.
March 18th – April 30th
Modern / Rundown Building
-All entries must be submitted by
April 30th in order to make judging.
-Levels must be relevant to the current theme in order to qualify.
-Participants cannot submit a level that was already in progress
before the start date of the competition.
-Participants will need to present their level as a compiled game .exe.
-Entries can be no more than 1 level.
-This is a
level design competition that will be focusing
solely on 3D environment structure. There shouldn’t be any enemy confrontations, weapons the player can equip, game storyline, or cinematic effects incorporated into your work.
However, key items, such as those used to unlock specific routes like door keys, or interactive crates that need to be stacked on top of one another in order to progress through the level are acceptable. But, these will be considered elements of gameplay and will only be scored based on the way they fit into your level structure.
Total Points Available: 150 (+15 Bonus)
I. Level Design 100
Your level design should of course, be relevant to this month’s theme. Things to consider when creating your level that will affect your score in this category include (but are not limited to);
1a. Glitches and ‘Hard Spots’
Glitches range from anything to falling through a floor to jumping on a prop and being projected a thousand feet in the air through the ceiling, to flickering textures to a door that should be able to open but for some reason, doesn’t. ‘Hard spots’ pertain to any area where the player seems to get stuck in the floor or against a wall on something invisible or otherwise. Developers need to make sure the areas accessible to the player in their levels are free of these bugs in order to excel in this category.
1b. Realism
This category covers a wide area so it’s really going to be left in the hands of the developer to use their sense of reality to keep their level believable. A few examples to look at when considering realism for your levels would be; proper entity scale and proportion, an appropriate depiction of physics (for example, keeping an eye out for ‘floating’ objects or, entities that are not touching the floor), and making sure lights always have a source.
1c. Entity Placement and Appropriateness
If you’re working on an old apartment building map it wouldn’t be appropriate to add a burning campfire or a battle tank in one of the second floor apartment’s kitchens. On the other hand, a hospital wheelchair, bed, and IV unit situated in one of the apartment’s bedrooms, for example, might suggest to the player the tenant in that particular apartment was ill in his day and age. Maybe he was unable to walk and needed to have a nurse visit him each morning to tend to his IV. Small scenes such as these that make the player stop for a moment to examine his surroundings and think about the story behind them really adds an extra appeal to your level.
1d. Detail and Originality
Both important elements in good level design. Detail is what helps draws the player into the level, and makes him feel like he’s really in an old apartment building, or an empty subway station. Originality is something that keeps the player from getting bored, or pushes him to want to know what lies ahead of him because it’s something he’s never experienced before.
*Custom media assets that are used in such a way they provide originality to your level can score you extra points in this category.
II. Visuals 25
This category addresses the overall visual quality of your level and not the actual level construction. For example, are your level’s textures consistent qualities, or are some of them blurred and stretched? Are your textures clean and seamless in the areas the player can see?
*Use of shaders will be permitted in this competition. When used correctly, shaders can really define certain materials in your environment by adding depth to rough surfaces and specularity to reflective surfaces. Something to keep in mind when creating your shader maps is to consider the material you’re creating the shader maps for. For example, dead and dry logs with bark should not be smooth and reflective like a polished metal cabinet.
2a. Lightmapping
Lightmapping can help draw the player into your game environment by adding another touch of realism to your level’s setting. If done correctly lightmapping can really personify that particular atmosphere or mood that you’re trying to project from your scene to the player. It’s also a nice way to add extra detail to your level without adding extra polygons.
III. Optimization 25
Your level should be able to deliver a consistent, playable framerate to the player. Frame drops or, “lag spots”, in one or more locations due to poor optimization (such as too much invested detail in one area) may count against your score.
IV. Sounds (BONUS) 15
You
may add sound effects and ambience music to your level if you like,
however ;
only sound effects that tie into your level design will be considered for scoring.
For example, a creeking wood floor sound trigger on a section of an old wooden floor can help draw the player into your enviroment by bringing additional realism into your scene. A distant thunderstorm and rain ambience will be considered for scoring
if you use elements in your level design to suggest that it's actually storming (lightning flashes, rain falling outside of the windows, etc). Random screams, or horror stingers to startle the player, or any other generic music ambience or sound effects unrelated to your actual level design will not affect your score either way.
All participants that submit a valid entry by the deadline will be offered their choice of any 2 models from my GC Store account.
The winner, with the best level in this month's competition will win;
[b]-Every current model in my GC Store account
-Wolf's Stock Weapons Retexture Pack
-Wolf's Extended Level Design Segment Pack
-Custom Music Composition by Juzi
-Anayar's Massive Overlay Pack
-Anayar's Massive Segment Pack
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Preview
Kravenwolf
